I have lived in Northfield for nearly 20 years and served as a Village Trustee for the last three years. I want to thank the merger committee for their hard work and diligence to move this worthy project forward. I support the concept of merger but not the merger document that will be voted on at town meeting.

The current Village charter is a strong and important document that protects the interests of the rate payers of the utilities. Currently, the utilities are overseen by an elected Board of Trustees. Under the proposed merger document, an appointed commission, not autonomous from the select board would oversee the utilities.

If merger were to occur, the utility users would become minority voters in the combined town/village. Without an autonomous commission I believe several major projects including a sewer line extension down Route 12A to protect our water source would not be a priority within the combined municipality.

Town and village residents benefit from the Village owned and financially well run utilities. Users of the water/sewer systems currently vote to make important decisions regarding upgrades, expansion and protection of the systems. Merger as proposed would dilute their power to control these decisions.